Tuesday, April 19, 2011

What do you say when...

A young 15 year old comes to your office and shares with you she has done something really bad, and disappointed her parents.

I've been in this job long enough to realize I now need to approach with caution. Who knows what will come out next. Slowly I manage to coax out of her what she had done to disappoint them.

She had told her parents NO!

No, she did not want her marriage arranged.
No, she did not want to be engaged.

and yet, her father insists it is to be so.

I can spout off the district statistics of the various cultures represented in our school.
But today? It struck home....and I realized I was completely unprepared for how to help this young lady.

So instead, I phoned a friend....and with this young lady's permission, I found a Muslim teacher in our building who can help her bridge that gap between parent and child

Some days? It really does take a village!

1 comment:

tz said...

wow, just wow.